Pages

Monday, July 26, 2010

What Sucks…The Subway, The Bus, The MTA, The NJT and the Truth

Lookit, I’m definitely undermanned in this war I am waging against the suck and I simply do not have the resources to devote to covering something that sucks on such a vast scope as the MTA (or NJ Transit for that matter), but nonetheless, I have to throw some interference up here. CUTTING already shitty service while jacking up what it costs to ride the subway AND adding a fee for buying a new Metrocard is an absolute disgrace.

On the surface, the story is that the MTA has a massive budget gap and is being forced to make cuts in services and maintenance to try and close it. Bus lines have been cut and staff ranging from ticket booth clerks to train cleaners have been laid off. Bad news especially on the cleaning staff front when you consider that fully staffed the system was losing the war against the smell of pee citywide. Half staffed, well, I don’t know what will happen, just hope there isn’t a surge in popularity of asparagus, or it could be a perfect storm of destruction.

Let’s also throw into consideration for a moment the monumental mismanagement of the MTA. You see, before the Metrocard, people bought subway tokens. For the most part, paying for riding the subway was something you did every time you rode- more often than not- waiting on a line, paying 3 bucks a pop. Sure you could buy a ten-pack of tokens, but it was a pain in the ass and really your only motivation for buying them was to avoid the line. (There was no- “buy 10 rides get one free” thing like there is for the Metrocard.)

The line was a miserable experience. There you were trapped, free to be accosted by the homeless. Precious moments of your life ticked away as every tourist in NY asked you how to get to the “Seaport” or “TKTS”. If you survived, your reward was getting to the front of the line where you would buy a token from someone whose communication skills, combined with the quality of the microphone in their booth, left you, sadly, knowing that the only thing you WERE able to understand was that you were being sassed.

POST Metrocard however, had people basically spending 20, 50 and 80 dollars at a time for their transportation before they rode. There was a huge influx of cash into the MTA system. People were paying for subway service in advance. If you bought an unlimited card, the MTA got its money and if you used it enough, you could actually save money. A rare victory for the consumer and city- for probably about 20 minutes until somehow this windfall got fucked up and the MTA was back at trying to jack up the rates again.

Which brings us to where we are today, where a municipality is openly charging you MORE, for providing you with LESS because budget-wise no one can get their shit together. And yes, it is a disgrace that ridership remains up- business basically good- and yet the consumer gets screwed, but this particular round of MTA/ NJT driven misery has a different feel. It’s like they’re not even trying to make it seem like they give a shit- its like they don’t even feel bad. Its strange, I guess I miss the lying.

As someone who is paying for the rate hike, I think I deserve to be lied to. What happened, MTA/ NJT? Did you have to downsize the guy in charge of lying to the public? Is he out of a job too? The fact that the MTA is not even trying to bullshit me is offensive and by the way I contribute it more to them being lazy than considerate. Afterall, there is laziness all over this thing- for Christsakes, the MTA is actually saying they are going to put “limits” on their “unlimited” Metrocards- creating a widely mocked oxymoron and ruining something they spent 15 years branding, overnight. Think of another term for it, you idiots!

Take notice a-holes: if we can’t summon the energy to lie to the public, we are losing sight of what makes us great as a society- putting perfume on turds what keeps the middle class getting up in the morning! Don’t make us buy guns and storm the capital!Follow What Sucks on Twitter!

3 comments:

This pissed me off to no end. If the MTA is "serious", they'd reconstruct the turnstile so KIDS AND [Redacted] DON'T DUCK UNDER THEM IN FRONT OF THE [Redacted] MTA EMPLOYEES. Same story with the bus's back doors, and even the subways "Emergency Exits" that large families in the Jamaica, NY area abuse. (One goes in, 10 or 20 follows thru them.)

I'm PRETTY sure they can cut the "budget deficiency" by half if they actually implement SMART-[Redacted]ING IDEAS instead of sitting in their offices and looking at numbers.

I think I'm going to the car dealerships and I *might* stop having to dye my hair to its normal color.

What Sucks Mission Statement

Suckiness surrounds us all, gripping us in a vice-like hold, with the ferocity of a bear trap made of shit. My mission? To offer insight and shed understanding on the vast, seemingly endless, black hole of crap each one of us has to face on a daily basis. And while that torrent of bullshit is both mammoth in scope and unyielding in its advance, at least here it can be called it out for what it is- a lot of shit that really sucks.

So join me- everyday I’ll shine the spotlight on something that sucks. And your comments, until you weird me out, are always welcome. That being said, thanks for stopping by and sorry everything sucks so bad.

About Me

Chris DeLuca is a writer/ producer/ comic currently living in Hoboken, the Prague of New Jersey. He's written for a bunch of TV shows you probably have not watched or heard of (United States of Hip Hop, Nikki & Sara Live, Mob Wives Reunion, BET's Don't Sleep, and Fuse News- see?) as well as Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Best Week Ever, Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and the 12/12/12 Concert For Sandy Relief. He was also the "World's Oldest Intern" on VH1's Big Morning Buzz. In 2009 he created, wrote and starred in the hilarious, and subversive “Mocap, LLC" on Spike. Sadly, he thinks he caused his parent's divorce.